I CAV TO SAY REF GAVE US NOTHING

CAVAN boss Mattie Mcgleenan blasted referee David Coldrick after crashing out of the Championship.

The Breffni Blues were on level terms at 0-13 to 1-10 with 11 minutes to go after a strong fight-back that included a Martin Reilly goal.

But Tyrone closed it out with points from the excellent Ronan O’neill (above), Frank Burns, Peter Harte and Niall Sludden to outscore Cavan 0-5 to 0-2 in the closing stages.

Tyrone native Mcgleenan said: “I’d be very disappointed with two or three refereeing decisions.

“Caoimhin O’reilly was mowed down by three men, the ball goes up the field and Tyrone players were cute enough to go down, it was Ronan O’neill or somebody, and they got a 21metre free. Those are the things that cost you on the day.

“You need the bounce of the ball at that stage. In saying that, (losing) wasn’t anything to do with the referee.

“Tyrone are a good football team, they weathered our storm, they were cute, they got scores at the right time and just pushed on.”

Cavan were awarded just one free in the firsthalf, which didn’t arrive until the 31st minute.

Mcgleenan said: “I don’t think we got too many frees today at all. I felt at times we didn’t get frees that Tyrone seemed to be getting but that’s football, that’s the nature of the game.”